


Armin Comes Home

by VampireLycanthrope



Series: If you prick us, do we not bleed? [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mob, Alternate Universe - Mutants, Being a mutant is really bad news, Erwin is Armin's uncle, Gen, Mob Boss Erwin Smith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-02-03
Packaged: 2019-03-10 17:15:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13506117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampireLycanthrope/pseuds/VampireLycanthrope
Summary: Armin Arlert is 6 years old, and an unrelated blood test turned up the dreaded news: He's Genetically Anomalous. His full-human parents react the way anyone in their situation would: renounce him entirely.Luckily for Armin, his uncle is also a GenA...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I watched 'The Veterans are Freaks' too many times. Then I went in search of AUs where Erwin is a mob boss. I didn't find enough, so I made one of my own. Also they're mutants with powers.

_Dear Mr. E. Smith_

_We have not been in contact recently due to your condition, and after this I do not expect I will be writing again. However, at this time said condition puts you in a unique position regarding my current circumstances._

_I had a son, who was recently discovered to have GenA DNA. Obviously, we are a genetically normal family, and cannot keep him if he begins to develop aberrant abilities, which he certainly will in future._

_Since you yourself are a GenA, I am asking if you would consider taking Armin. If so, please meet us the last Saturday of the month in Maria Rose Park at midday by the children's play area._

 

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Amalia Arlert_

* * *

“It's Amalia now, is it?” Erwin dropped the letter on his desk with a sigh.

“Eh?”

“My sister. Everyone calls her Amma, but in interest of pretending we're complete strangers- She knows my number, but sent a letter”

“Ah.” Levi took this as an invitation to cross the room, and survey the world outside the window. It was hardly news that Gen-T's avoided mutants with excessive fervour. “So?”

“So.” He folded the letter back into an envelope, and slid a small book across the desk. His retractable pen clicked. “I'm busy midday, two Saturdays from now. My nephew”

“You have one?”

“I do now he's a mutant, apparently.” The sound of writing came to an end, and Erwin's chair creaked as he turned to face Levi.

“Tch, of course. About Tuesday: I can get in easy, but the other half isn't my rodeo”

“Steal the hard drive, we can crack it later”

“I need Sparks and Switch”

The flip of some pages, and more writing sounds.

“They're with you”

Levi nodded, and pulled away from the window

“Need anything?”

Erwin shook his head

“Nothing that can't wait for the next meeting. Focus on Tuesday”

“Mm”

* * *

Erwin finally escaped the traffic and jogged up to the children's playground at about twenty-past midday. He didn't immediately recognise Amma among the parents, and he didn't know what her husband looked like.

There appeared to be a set of benches near the sandpit, and he started towards those. One woman had the same honey-brown curls as Amma, but when she turned her face was unfamiliar. No one else even looked close. Surely Mr Arlert hadn't come alone? She said 'us', after all, and relying on two men who had never met to find one another in a crowded area would belie the forethought that seemed to run in the family. With another look around, he headed instead to the swings, beginning to attract a sense of suspicion for being in a children's area without a child.

Some were openly glaring at him, in fact. Nothing else for it. Erwin raised his voice and called out,

“Armin?”

Several people reacted to the sound, but only one to the name. He had blond hair, longer than most boys his age, and one riding one of those one-person seesaw animals. Whatever you called them. The boy's eyes followed him as he made his way over.

“Armin Arlert?” he asked, when he was close enough to speak quietly. The boy continued to watch him, but a sense of recognition had flared as he spoke, so he tried again.

“I'm Erwin Smith”

“I'm Armin Arlert”

Armin's mind screamed uncertainty, and anxiety, so Erwin didn't bother drawing attention to the clumsy response. He offered a hand, which Armin took, and climbed down from his garish plastic horse. This seemed to satisfy the bystanders of Erwin's intentions at least, and he counted himself lucky that he and Armin looked related. If not, it could have been a very different story.

Armin's aura lit up with with a sort of nervous determination, a second before he spoke “Am I coming home with you?”

“Yes, after I speak with your parents” a flash of relief, which quickly faded back to anxiety as Erwin finished his sentence.

“They already left” Armin dragged his hands back to himself, and fidgeted. He didn't make eye contact, he didn't say another word. He just looked — and felt — so lost

Now, while both siblings had inherited an equal share of the family brains, the idealism had landed solely on Erwin. Amalia had always been more willing to comply with the world as it was. They'd argued about it many, many times as children, but he'd never taken it as a reason to become truly angry with her before.

“How caring of them” and then, sensing rather than seeing Armin's confusion (He was beginning to get the impression that Armin didn't emote much) “Sarcasm. Come on" He stretched out his hand again. "let's go home"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm planning to write more in this AU; I have a whole timeline mapped out. I might also add a bit to this one story; I felt it ended a little abruptly. IDK though that's how Erwin was feeling about his stupid sister.
> 
> She's called Amalia because it's Germanic in origin, like Erwin, and begins with A like Armin. She's also older, though I doubt that affects anything.
> 
> Armin might be on the spectrum? I'm playing with the idea but even if I do go with it it's unlikely to become a major thing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotta thank Kumikoko for their enthusiasm on the first chapter. This one's for you.

Armin woke early the next morning, in an unfamiliar room. The things of his he'd managed to fit in his bag before being sent away looked out of place, intruders on the too-clean floor and furniture. It felt, in short, like he'd been plucked out of his life and shoved into the guest room of the mysterious uncle he'd only ever heard bad things about.

But then, he'd seen the look on Mummy's face when she got the results. She wasn't having one of _them_ around. Not after everything that had come about because of _them_. And Daddy had just nodded and said he should be with his own kind.

And if Evil Uncle Erwin was his 'own kind' what did that make Armin?

And he curled up as small as he could and hid under the covers that weren't his and wished he was back home except he didn't want to be back home because Mummy and Daddy hated him and he didn't want to be anywhere at all.

 …

 Armin climbed out of bed, no longer shaking. He had a bed. He wasn't sleeping in the tunnel of the climbing frame. That meant Uncle Erwin couldn't be too evil or he would have left him in the park. Besides, he had a nice voice, like warm water.

He got dressed and walked out of the room. The sky was fading to orange, but the sun itself had yet to appear. He tiptoed downstairs, through the kitchen, and out of the back door. The dew was cold on his bare feet as he searched for the best position to watch the sunrise. Slowly, the very tip of a yellow disc crept over the horizon, staining the clouds orange and pink. The sky washed with colour. Purple, then red, orange, yellow, and finally white and blue and he had too look away from the brightness.

“Up early, brat”

Armin tuned so fast his head ached and his neck twinged, and what he saw wasn't exactly comforting.

“That's... um... A lot of knives”

The man gave him a lazy look, and opened his jacket.

“What, these ones?”

Inside were rows of shiny steel blades, angled so the handles could be grasped quickly. Armin, who'd been referring to the blades strapped to his thighs, and wrists, and the one in his hand, felt suddenly defenceless.

“Gunshots attract unwanted attention. Throwing one of these is damn near silent and just as deadly, if you're good”

“...If you're good” Repeated Armin, because it was clearly his turn to speak. “Uh.. you're up early too”

“I'm just going to bed. Inside, brat, or you'll freeze and Erwin'll make me do some really shitty mission as punishment”

“You shouldn't swear at me. I'm six.”

“Do you always talk back to guys with knives?”

If Knife Guy faced punishment for letting Armin get too cold, then he certainly would for using a knife on him (unless this was a different world he didn't know the rules to where people stabbed people all the time). But before Armin could explain any of this, he was lifted off his feet and carried to the back door mat. “Guess it runs in the family. Wipe your feet before coming in”

 _Runs in the family._ Knife Guy was talking about Uncle Erwin. Not Mummy, or Daddy, just the tall man from yesterday. Armin's only family. Suddenly, his throat was choked up with nerves again. By the time he straightened his breathing, the man was gone, and Uncle Erwin was in the kitchen.

“Eggs?”

Armin stared at the ground. Scrambled, please. Something he said to Mummy every time she cooked breakfast. It occurred to him for the first time that Mummy and Erwin had grown up together. Maybe their Mummy, or Daddy, had asked the same question.

“Armin?”

Uncle Erwin stood right over him, holding an egg.

“Armin? Are you alright?”

Slowly, Armin nodded.

“Are you okay to speak?”

He shook his head.

“If I list ways of doing eggs, can you nod when I get to one you like?”

Nod.

“Fried? Scrambled?”

Nod.

“Scrambled it is”

Uncle Erwin began cracking eggs into a saucepan.

“Today's Sunday, which means I have a meeting this afternoon with my top people. You won't be involved in that; it's a business meeting, but I was going to introduce you. Most of these people live here, by which I mean Levi lives here, Hanji lives in the basement lab, Nanaba crashes on random sofas after long nights so as not to disturb her flatmates, and Mike stays here when he's in town. So you'll need to know them. Any questions?”

No. No questions. What would he ask? He should probably lay the table, but he didn't know where anything was.

“If you have any, do ask. Cutlery in this draw,” he pointed at one of the countertops to his right, “plates up there, don't worry if you can't reach. It's just us this morning.”

Armin had to pull up a chair, but he got down the plates, and set the forks on the left and knives on the right because that's how you lay a table. He took two slices of toast for his own plate, and left the others because you don't serve other people with your fingers but you also don't stick a fork in a toaster. The routine was relaxing, against the sizzle of the eggs. He opened his mouth, and found he had his words back.

“What do I do today? Do you have books?”

“I do”. Uncle Erwin served the eggs, and took his own toast before continuing. “But I thought we might spend today getting you settled in. You're overwhelmed right now, and that's not a pleasant feeling”

Armin looked across the table at him. He was dressed formally, and had the same expression as a strict teacher.

“Forgive me. I'm used to organising things, and I'm treating you like a mission or something. I don't think I actually talk to people when I'm not giving orders.” He ran a hand through his hair (smoothing it down, not messing it up. Like Mummy did) “either way, we'll have to buy some stuff; you didn't come with much. How about you choose some books too, while we're there?” He smiled, just like he had briefly, back at the park. It made him look softer. Like a nice uncle in a story.

He was a nice uncle, wasn't he? Nothing bad had happened in his house. Even Knife Guy had cared about his well-being.  _More than my actual parents did._

“It's going to be okay Armin”

Uncle Erwin still looked soft, and kind, and nothing like a mean teacher. He pulled Armin into a half-hug “We're not there yet, but we will be. Everything has the potential to be the way it should be”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> But have you ever seen Erwin speak to someone about something not one of his plans?


	3. Chapter 3

As soon as the bookstore came in sight, Armin broke into a run and wove through the crowd. Erwin followed at a more sedate pace, and found him staring through the window.

“Anything catch your eye?”

“All the books...” Armin murmured reverently. Then he looked up at Erwin, with an uncharacteristic grin spread all across his face. “I'm going to read all of them!”

Erwin found himself grinning back.

“For now, just pick the three you want to read the most, and we can come back another time”

“Three...” repeated Armin, staring past his own reflection to the rows of shelves. Then he exploded with a sense of purpose, just moments before dashing through the shop door. Erwin was still smiling as he stepped inside himself.

“That your kid, came in here like a streak of lightning?”

The speaker was an old man, browsing the travel section. His emotions betrayed only amicable curiosity.

“Yes.”

He meant it too. Whatever else happened, Armin was now part of His People. Of course, he'd never really considered children, when forming the group.

 _Kenny used to tell me_ Levi had said once _Never get involved with psychics. Physicals are people with an extra trick up their sleeves, and elementals are people with a flashy weapon, but psychics are devious, slippery bastards and every one of them's insane._ Levi had given him one of those unreadable looks then, before saying _he was talking about you._ For all his mind-reading abilities, Erwin had never been able to tell if his right-hand man had been joking.

There were two psychic stereotypes: One of your standard puny nerd, and the other of an unscrupulous puppeteer, whose only skill was twisting the skills of others for personal gain...

Erwin wasn't ashamed of being efficient. His group, along with their network of contacts, operated in a different league from the average mutt pack because of it. The strength of humanity is teamwork; turning a group of antisocial vagrants into a cohesive unit made them stronger. Better. What he did worked, and it would take an utter moron to feel guilty for that. Still, using those techniques on someone without the life experience to question it had always felt like some kind of line. Between persuasion and indoctrination.

The question was how it compared, ethically speaking, with the alternative. As Armin rushed back, cradling three books in his arms, he abandoned the train of thought. Morality was for people who could afford it.

* * *

Armin was shocked out his book by a sound outside the door, and looked up to find it was late. Uncle Erwin had said to be in his study at eight o'clock, and it was now seven minutes past. He grabbed one of his new socks to use as a bookmark, and ran down the corridor.

Reaching what he thought was the study, he paused, thing Mummy had said echoing in his mind. It couldn't all true, but...

He pushed open the door.

Erwin Smith was seated in a high-backed chair behind a desk. Leaning against this chair, side-on to the door, was Knife Guy for that morning. On the other side stood a very tall man with narrow eyes and a moustache. Next to him, a blond person who might have been a boy or a girl, he couldn't tell. He couldn't figure out the last one either, perched on the desk with square glasses and mahogany-brown hair.

“Um hi. I'm Armin!”

Knife Guy's grey eyes settled on him “Levi”

“Nanaba” said the blond

“I'm Hanji” That was glasses.

“...Mike” Finished the tall one.

Erwin leaned forward “I can hear you wondering. Nanaba's a girl, Hanji's just a scientist” He gestured outwards, encompassing all four of them. “My team.”

“your team” the response slipped out automatically.

Erwin looked like a king on a throne. Mike was really, really big. Levi was smaller, but the memory of those knives ... _just as lethal..._ Lethal meant capable of killing people, he'd looked it up. Nanaba looked calm, but also bit like that boy who used to argue with the teacher all the time. Hanji looked least likely to be _lethal_ but also most likely to be crazy. A scientist? A mad one maybe?

Who were these people?

It was Levi who spoke “we're training the brat, right?”

“In what though?” mused Nanaba.

Hanji continued to analyse him far too closely for comfort, like he was going to be experimented on.

Erwin raised a hand for silence. He was in strict teacher mode again. “To fast, all of you. Armin. We, as a group, along with some others, make money in various ways. Most of these are illegal, and the rest are only legal on a technicality. There is no need to be worried by this”

Illegal... Armin's eyes widened.

“tch” Levi glanced at Erwin, for permission, before making direct eye contact with Armin. He looked away.

“Listen, brat. You're a mutant now. Whatever life you thought you had is gone. Those pigs with their genetic purity won't let you live it. Your options now are shit, shit, death, and Erwin. Choose”

Mike nodded slowly. The room was suddenly very quiet. Armin had lost his words again. Instead, he went and sat on the far side of the desk from Hanji, and nodded nervously.

Behind him, Nanaba said “does this mean I'm not the youngest anymore?”

Uncle Erwin smiled, properly.

Mike sniffed somewhere below his ear.

“he does that”

“Sparks, Science, I'd like you two to go over basic skills with Armin”

“Can do, Boss Eyebrows!” Hanji, (science?) shouted.

“Got it” said Nanaba.

“Armin?”

He nodded, still not speaking. Everything was beginning to feel unreal. The Mad Scientist began talking about some data hacking thing, and he would've talked about the book he was reading about cryptography, if he could speak.

Uncle Erwin reached out to stroke his hair. “Go to bed now. You've got school tomorrow”

Still feeling like this was some kind of dream, Armin jumped down from the desk, and walked slowly to the door. Through it. Back down the corridor to his bedroom. Into bed without changing into his pyjamas.

To sleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never explained Levi's knives. He got into the habit, back when he was homeless, of keeping them on him always, and he never stopped.  
> The knives inside his jacket are all throwing knives; the others come in pairs which he dual-wields.  
> On his hip: generic combat knife, and heavy serrated blade (the latter is more for objects than combat)  
> In his knee-high boots: machete on the outside of his leg, push dagger on the inside: Backup knives  
> Wrists: very small, scalpel blade+very short handle. Hidden in the cuffs of his shirt and made of polymers that pass metal detectors: backup-backup knives.
> 
> This work is marked as complete because all the plot points I wanted to cover are covered. However any events that take place between now and four years in the future (when the next instalment is set) will be added as chapters to this work.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a timeline for this AU, but very little in the way of detail.  
> Please tell me if my writing is bad.


End file.
